General Information
Type of contract
Traineeship
Who can apply?
EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme
Grant
The trainee grant is €1,170 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
02.07.2024
Your team
You will be part of the Enterprise and Business Services (EBS) Division in the ECB’s Directorate General Information Systems. Our Division has around 60 staff providing IT services to the ECB, introducing new technologies and digitalising existing business processes.
The Division provides IT solutions and services by configuring, adapting and implementing commercial software in the areas of enterprise information management, enterprise resource planning, and communication and collaboration. It has also been tasked with delivering tailored IT applications supporting the core business areas of the ECB, including Market Operations, Banknotes and Risk Management.
We are currently working on the automation of business processes, transforming our operational model to DevOps and migrating our applications to the cloud.
In your role as a trainee, you will join a team of 5-10 IT engineers responsible for taking our architecture to a new digital level. The Division is organised in product teams that all follow the DevOps approach in providing end users with services and applications that are managed end-to-end.
The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. We encourage you to apply irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other characteristics.
Your role
As a trainee you will join one (or more) of the following teams:
- Human Resource (HR) Product Team:
Are you interested in working on applications that support the day-to-day tasks of everyone working at the ECB? In this team, you will help to enhance the ECB’s portfolio of HR services and applications. The Human Resource (HR) Product Team develops the solutions that people at the ECB use to apply for internal vacancies, plan their learning development, receive their monthly salary, organise their leave and obtain their benefits at the end of their working life. You will be exposed to some of the diverse technologies we use, such as SAP S/4HANA, or cloud SaaS environments, such as Avature, IMC and HR Analytics. Your role will allow you to interact with ECB end users on business requirements, and hence on business analysis and project management tasks, and to participate in the hands-on development of solutions.
- Digital Experience (DX) with Low-Code and Intelligent Automation Product Team:
In this area, interaction between business users and IT is the key to fast delivery of solutions for an even better digital experience at the ECB. You will use your communication skills to transform user requirements into IT solutions and automated processes. You will work with a wide range of products, including robotic process automation, chatbots, low code/no code, R, Python and mobile apps, as part of a small, dynamic team providing business users with custom IT solutions and applications to help them achieve their goals.
- Communications Product Team:
You will help design, implement and run the IT solution that underpins the ECB’s internal and external communications. This covers all communication channels and types of communication, ranging from high-level speeches to social media content aimed directly at the general public. As a project management/business analyst trainee in this area, among other things you will:
- see how an international institution communicates and experience the processes involved, including business priorities, pain points and opportunities;
- understand what it takes to manage and run a complex project, and how activities and projects are planned and aligned;
- engage with current IT issues in an institutional environment, as well as with project/process management complexities and needs where boundary conditions exist. You will also see how the process-centric organisation of the ECB translates into our activities in the area of enterprise services. You will negotiate with different stakeholders with sometimes conflicting goals and present possible solutions to the team to assess and discuss their viability. You will gain experience in areas like project management methodologies, the implementation of services in the cloud, change management, IT security, infrastructure integration and data protection.
- Data Services Product Team:
Would you like to improve your skills in data warehousing, data modelling and business analysis of unstructured data (including big data technologies such as Hadoop and Spark)? And do you already have some experience with statistical or mathematical software packages and with the related programming languages (i.e. Python, Access, VBA or similar) and/or with relational databases (Oracle, MySQL or similar)? Our team supports the ECB’s market operations and risk management functions, giving you the chance to gain insights into core central banking tasks.
- Risk Management Product Team:
You will join a large project team supporting the development of web-based applications that run core tasks for the ECB’s Directorate Risk Management. You will gain experience in project management and/or business analysis and will follow project lifecycles. These projects are aimed at significantly enhancing multiple applications using technologies such as Camunda, WSO2, Oracle Exadata and Java. While contributing to a project team, you will also have the chance to work closely with another ECB business area and learn about its processes, IT developments and applications. Work in our team is fast-paced, and you will have the opportunity to experience Agile development methods in practice.
- Mobile Apps Development and Evolutive Maintenance:
You will join a highly specialised team working on the development and extension of the suite of internal mobile apps available to everyone working at the ECB.
You will need to be motivated to apply your previous experience in using Apple iOS to help develop and enhance apps running on the Apple iOS platform.
Extensive testing cycles are required before an app is made available in the ECB’s internal app store.
This position offers you excellent opportunities to grow your skills and work, while contributing to some of the ECB’s most visible IT services. Coaching will be provided to help you gradually play an active part in the daily business tasks involved with your role. You will also have the opportunity to work closely with a multitude of different business areas within the ECB. You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on the lives of European citizens.
Qualifications, experience and skills
Essential:
- a bachelor’s degree or higher in engineering, computer science, mathematics, physics, quantitative science, business management or another relevant field;
- a sound understanding of information systems and information technology;
- a background in project management frameworks and methodologies, such as PMBOK and PM2, and an understanding and knowledge of project scheduling and planning tools;
- a background in business analysis methodologies, such as BABOK, and an understanding and knowledge of business process modelling techniques;
- a good knowledge of the MS Office package and MS Teams for remote collaboration and messaging;
- an advanced (C1) command of English and an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Desired:
- an interest in complex technical content;
- excellent analytical skills and an ability to break down complex technical objects into simpler, more manageable parts;
- an ability to identify and document higher conceptual rules out of seemingly diverse, lower-level elements, situations or facts;
- familiarity with Agile methodologies;
- a professional qualification in project management or business analysis;
- experience with low-code and robotic process automation (RPA) platforms;
- knowledge of and experience in developing AI/ML solutions;
- experience in obtaining and documenting requirements in various formats;
- experience in testing software systems;
- knowledge of and experience in developing and testing mobile apps (preferably based on the Apple iOS platform);
- knowledge of Python, R or another statistical programming language.
You are curious and eager to learn, and want to further develop your ability to analyse complex information. You are keen to collaborate with others, pursue team goals and learn from other people’s diverse perspectives. You strive to know and anticipate stakeholder needs, and will signal any need for change and propose alternative solutions.
You are motivated to contribute to the ECB’s mission, to serve the citizens of the EU as a member of a public institution and to work with colleagues from all over Europe. You are keen to be part of our team and to use your skills and competencies to achieve the aims of this position.
Further information
Initial traineeship of 6 months, with a possible extension to up to 12 months in total.
For additional information on this specific vacancy, you can speak to either Allar Oja, on +49 (0)69 1344 5832 between 14:00 and 15:00 on Wednesday, 19 June, or Giuseppe Calvi, on +49 (0)69 1344 7750 between 15:00 and 16:00 on Friday, 21 June.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include a pre-recorded video interview in the pre-selection phase and – if you are invited to participate in the subsequent selection phase – an online interview.
Further information on
how to apply is available on our website.
If you are not selected for this position but are still considered suitable, you will be placed on a reserve list for 12 months from the closing date for applications, from which you might be considered for other traineeship positions within the ECB.
